A Whangarei councillor says a review of the actions of the council's chief executive is a whitewash.
Chief executive Mark Simpson fired his personal assistant Jan Walters for nominating a mayoral candidate, but allowed another employee to work on a mayoral campaign for the council's finance chair.
A report by Auckland lawyer Simon Stokes raises concerns about the council protocol that gave Mr Simpson discretion to allow his staff to work on that campaign.
Mr Stokes criticised council election protocols which say employees must not support candidates or their campaigns, but allow the chief executive to make exceptions to the rule.
He says if staff involvement in election campaigns is inappropriate, it remains so despite the chief executive's approval.
But it says Mr Simpson conducted a considered and thorough disciplinary inquiry in Mrs Walters' case.
Councillor Crichton Christie says the report fails to address the inconsistency in the way the two employees were treated.
He says the council has tried to play down the controversy as an employment matter.
But it goes to the heart of whether the council has integrity and whether its managers are "squeaky clean" in terms of their influence at election time, he says.
Acting mayor Phil Halse says the council is constrained by employment law in what it can say or do at this point.
Mrs Walters is suing the council for $100,000 for wrongful dismissal, and councillors at Monday morning's meeting made mention of the chief executive's next performance review.
The council also voted to review its election protocols - which are written by management - before the next local body elections.
But Councillor Christie says the it has dodged the question of whether its CEO made an error of judgement that has exposed the council to the perception of electoral bias.
Mr Christie says the review was so lightweight that it did not even interview some of the key people involved, and failed to address the legal implications for the council of Mr Simpson sacking the employee.
He says he will ask the Minister of Local Government, Chris Tremain, to appoint someone to carry out a truly independent review.
Whangarei District Council voted on Monday to take no immediate action on the controversy but to review its protocols before the next election.
